Lin Zixu Lin Tse-Hs (1839 CE)
Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria
[Kishlansky Introduction] Lin Tse-Hsu (1785-1850) was the Chinese Commissioner in Canton whose actions
precipitated the Opium Wars (1839- 1842). Although opium was used in China for centuries, it was not until
the opening of the tea trade to Dutch and British merchants that China was able to import large quantities of
the drug. By the early nineteenth century opium was the principal product that the English East India
Company traded in China and opium addiction was becoming a widespread social problem. When the
emperor's own son died of an overdose, he decided to put an end to the trade. Lin Tse-Hs was sent to
Canton, the chief trading port of the East India Company, with instructions to negotiate an end to the
importation of opium into China. The English merchants were uncooperative, so he seized their stores of
opium. This led to immediate military action. The Chinese were decisively defeated and had to cede to a
humiliating treaty that legalized the opium trade. As a result Commissioner Lin was dismissed from office
and sent into exile.
Lin Tse-Hsu's "Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria" was written before the outbreak of the Opium Wars. It
was a remarkably frank document, especially given the usual highly stylized language of Chinese diplomacy.
There remains some question whether Queen Victoria ever read the letter.
A communication: magnificently our great Emperor soothes and pacifies China and the foreign countries,
regarding all with the same kindness. If there is profit, then he shares it with the peoples of the world; if there
is harm, then he removes it on behalf of the world. This is because he takes the mind of heaven and earth as
his mind.
The kings of your honorable country by a tradition handed down from generation to generation have always
been noted for their politeness and submissiveness. We have read your successive tributary memorials
saying, "In general our countrymen who go to trade in China have always received His Majesty the
Emperor's gracious treatment and equal justice" and so on. Privately we are delighted with the way in which
the honorable rulers of your country deeply understand the grand principles and are grateful for the Celestial
grace. For this reason the Celestial Court in soothing those from afar has redoubled its polite and kind
treatment. The profit from trade has been enjoyed by them continuously for two hundred years. This is the
source from which your country has become known for its wealth.
But after a long period of commercial intercourse, there appear among the crowd of barbarians both good
persons and bad, unevenly. Consequently there are those who smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people
and so cause the spread of the poison to all provinces. Such persons who only care to profit themselves, and
disregard their harm to others, are not tolerated by the laws of heaven and are hated by human beings. His
Majesty the Emperor, upon hearing of this, is in a towering rage. He has especially sent me, his
commissioner, to come to Kwangtung, and together with the governor-general and governor jointly to
investigate and settle this matter.
All those people in China who sell opium or smoke opium should receive the death penalty. We trace the
crime of those barbarians who through the years have been selling opium, then the deep harm they have
wrought and the great profit they have usurped should fundamentally justify their execution according to
law. We take into to consideration, however, the fact that the various barbarians have still known how to
repent their crimes and return to their allegiance to us by taking the 20,183 chests of opium from their
storeships and petitioning us, through their consular officer [superintendent of trade], Elliot, to receive it. It
has been entirely destroyed and this has been faithfully reported to the Throne in several memorials by this
commissioner and his colleagues.
Fortunately we have received a specially extended favor from His Majesty the Emperor, who considers that
for those who voluntarily surrender there are still some circumstances to palliate their crime, and so for the
time being he has magnanimously excused them from punishment. But as for those who again violate the
opium prohibition, it is difficult for the law to pardon them repeatedly. Having established new regulations,
we presume that the ruler of your honorable country, who takes delight in our culture and whose disposition
is inclined towards us, must be able to instruct the various barbarians to observe the law with care. It is only
necessary to explain to them the advantages and then they will know that the legal code of the Celestial Court
must be absolutely obeyed with awe.
We find your country is sixty or seventy thousand li [three li make one mile, ordinarily] from China. Yet
there are barbarian ships that strive to come here for trade for the purpose of making a great profit The
wealth of China is used to profit the barbarians. That is to say, the great profit made by barbarians is all taken
from the rightful share of China. By what right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the
Chinese people? Even though the barbarians may not necessarily intend to do us harm, yet in coveting profit
to an extreme, they have no regard for injuring others. Let us ask, where is your conscience? I have heard
that the smoking of opium is very strictly forbidden by your country; that is because the harm caused by
opium is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your own country, then even less should
you let it be passed on to the harm of other countries -- how much less to China! Of all that China exports to
foreign countries, there is not a single thing which is not beneficial to people: they are of benefit when eaten,
or of benefit when used, or of benefit when resold: all are beneficial. Is there a single article from China
which has done any harm to foreign countries? Take tea and rhubarb, for example; the foreign countries
cannot get along for a single day without them. If China cuts off these benefits with no sympathy for those
who are to suffer, then what can the barbarians rely upon to keep themselves alive? Moreover the woolens,
camlets, and textiles of foreign countries cannot be woven unless they obtain Chinese silk. If China, again,
cuts off this beneficial export, what profit can the barbarians expect to make? As for other foodstuffs,
beginning with candy, ginger, cinnamon, and so forth, and articles for use, beginning with silk, satin,
chinaware, and so on, all the things that must be had by foreign countries are innumerable. On the other
hand, articles coming from the outside to China can only be used as toys. We can take them or get along
without them. Since they are not needed by China, what difficulty would there be if we closed our frontier
and stopped the trade? Nevertheless, our Celestial Court lets tea, silk, and other goods be shipped without
limit and circulated everywhere without begrudging it in the slightest. This is for no other reason but to share
the benefit with the people of the whole world. The goods from China carried away by your country not only
supply your own consumption and use, but also can be divided up and sold to other countries, producing a
triple profit. Even if you do not sell opium, you still have this threefold profit. How can you bear to go
further, selling products injurious to others in order to fulfill your insatiable desire?
Suppose there were people from another country who carried opium for sale to England and seduced your
people into buying and smoking it; certainly your honorable ruler would deeply hate it and be bitterly
aroused. We have heard heretofore that your honorable ruler is kind and benevolent. Naturally you would not
wish to give unto others what you yourself do not want. We have also heard that the ships coming to Canton
have all had regulations promulgated and given to them in which it is stated that it is not permitted to carry
contraband goods. This indicates that the administrative orders of your honorable rule have been originally
strict and clear. Only because the trading ships are numerous, heretofore perhaps they have not been
examined with care. Now after this communication has been dispatched and you have clearly understood the
strictness of the prohibitory laws of the Celestial Court, certainly you will not let your subjects dare again to
violate the law.
Those who bring opium to China shall at once be executed according to law, with absolutely no clemency or
pardon. May you, O King, check your wicked people before they come to China, in order to guarantee the
peace of your nation, to show further the sincerity of your politeness and submissiveness, and to let the two
countries enjoy together the blessings of peace After receiving this dispatch, immediately give us a prompt
reply regarding the details and circumstances of your cutting off the opium traffic. Be sure not to put this off.